“But he don’t get any gold,” added Dandy Pete.
“Not an ounce!” declared Daggett.
“Don’t want any gold,” said Bry, composedly. “Only want to get away.”
“All right,” decided Larkin. “You can come along. But you’ve got to obey orders, and the first time I catch you at any tricks, I’ll put a bullet into you.”
Bry grinned from ear to ear, as if he considered this a good joke, and then he warmed his hands over the fire while Judson brought him something to eat from the bundle.
Afterward all lay down to sleep again except Larkin, who resumed his watch. It was too soon to put any trust in Bry, so the black, having eaten his fill, lay down beside the others.
Nux and I cautiously retreated to the rock, and consulted as to what we should do under these circumstances. The black man had perfect confidence in his comrade, and proposed that we should still follow the band of robbers and wait for Bry to find a way to communicate with us and assist us. This seemed reasonable to me, also.
As we were chilled to the bones in the cold night air, Nux suggested that we go into camp until morning, and led me a long distance back into the woods, where we finally came to a deep hollow. Here there would be little danger that a fire could be seen by the robbers; so we gathered together some twigs, and as I had matches in my pocket a fire was soon started that proved very grateful to us both. We then agreed to take turns watching until daylight, and while Nux lay down to sleep I took the first watch. But in some way—perhaps because the fire was so cosy and agreeable,—I gradually lost consciousness, and when morning came both Nux and I awoke with a start to find the fire out and the sun glinting brightly through the trees.
We made all haste toward the camp of the robbers, but when we arrived at the place we found it deserted. They could not have been gone long, however, for the embers of the fire were still aglow; and Nux, who was keen as a bloodhound on a trail, declared he would have no trouble in following the band.
Before we left, however, we made a search for food, and to our joy discovered behind the log a can of beans and some more biscuits, which Bry had evidently found an opportunity to hide there for our benefit. We began the chase even while we ate, for Nux picked out the trail with ease and threaded his way between the trees with absolute confidence.